Material storage and handling system



Sept. 19, 1933. E. T. BENNINGTON 1,927,677

MATERIAL STORAGE AND HANDLING SYSTEM Filed Jan. 15, 1927 2 Sheets-'Sheetl Ilil Ill

VWM

AWIIIIVHIIHIIIll|||ll|li||I'lllHAlIlll/HIIIIHI ATra/PNEVS 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Jan. l5, 1927 k2 Vf E. T. BENNINGTON MATERIAL vstlolmci'r: ANDHANDLING SYSTEM Sept. 19, 1933.

Patented sept. 19, 1933 MATERIAL STORAGE AND HANDLING l lSYSTEM Earl T.Bennington, clevelandl Heights, ohio.'

assignor to The Cleveland Crane & Engineer-Y ing Company, Wickliiie,Ohio, al corporation-of Ohio Application January 1,5, 1927. SerialNo;f161,383

2 claims. (C1.'1379) This invention relates to material storage andhandling systems generally, but more particularly to the handling andstorage of material in warehouses, the' invention having for its object'to provide a material storage and handling system by which the deliveryof articles to and the removal of articles from the various storage'places or compartments is greatly facilitated.

In storage warehouses, it is very desirable to be able to quickly removearticles ormaterial from any desired place in the Warehouse and conveythe same to a delivery point, or Avice versa, to quickly transferarticles from the point at which they are received to the place in thewarehouse where they are to be stored.` For example, a cotton warehousemay store lbales of cotton for hundreds of dierent owners, some having alarge number of bales and others only a few. It is necessary that thevarious consignments be stored separately and be accessible for removalat any time. may -be graded as to quality, and it is highly desirablethat the bales be so stored that any bales specified can be removed withthe minimum of labor.

The present invention has for an object to provide a warehouse handlingsystem which can be installed at a relatively low cost, in which thecost of operation and maintenance is low, and which very effectivelyservesthe ldesired purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide a warehouse carriersystem in which traveling carriers are employed and in whichv anycarrier may be employed to take the articles or material to or from anystorage places in the Warehouse.

A further object is to provide a warehouse having the storagecompartments arranged in parallel tiers and in connection therewith toprovide a traveling elevator by which goods may be taken from ordelivered to thecompartments at any level.

A further object is to provide a monorail carriersystem for warehouseswhere the monorailA A further object is to provide self-propelledAtraveling elevators in Whichuthe'propelling and elevating means arecontrollable by an operator on the vertically movable platform of theelevator.4

Furthermore, bales `WithY the'above'and yother objects in View," the yinvention may be said to` comprise a vstorage warehouse as illustratedin the accompany drawings hereinafter described and particularlyfsetforth in the appended claims, together with such variations andmodications. thereof as will' be apparent to j one skilledl'intheartftowhich the invention appertains. i

Reference should be hady to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, inY which: y. Y f' Fig. 1 is av diagrammatic planlView of a warehouse and material handlingsystem.embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the warehouse shown in Fig. 1"; l

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one carriages;` l

Fig. 4 is a side elevationnof the'carriage;

of the traveling Fig`` 5 is an end elevation ofthercarriagei.: y Fig'. 6is an enlargedfragmentary cross section throughadjacent tiersv ofstorage compartments,

thesection being taken on the'line :indicatedfa't VIA-VI in Fig. 1; andp Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view showing one ofthe four'switch pedalson the platform by which the ,propelling an'd`hoist motors arecoritrolled.

-' In the accompanying drawings, the invention f 'what goods ormaterials thewarehouse isuused. 'The various compartments or storageplaces may be constructed and arranged ina manner suitable to the goodsor materials to 'be stored.

' Referring to the', accompanying drawings', a

warehouse building is designated by the numeral 1, and at one end of,thisV building there is shown a railway track' 2 forrailWay cars whichmay vserve to` deliver goods to the warehouse or' to receivefgoodstherefrom. Along the same end of the warehousethere is shown a receivingand delivering lplatform '3 adapted to receive goods fromrwagons ortrucks and from which` goods.

may be loaded onto wagons or trucks( Within the building there faretiers of storage compartments Varranged .in parallel rowsflextendingfsubf2 stantia'lly'the full length of vthe. building and havingbetween them passageways 5 through which access may behad to the storagecompartments. yExtending'past the ends of the rows oftiers 4 atyon'efend `of the-building', (there is .a main overhead `monorail'track' 6 which extends alongside the loading platform Stand alsoalongside the railway track 2. Over veach of the passageways 5 andextending the full length thereof,

travelover thevtracks 6 and f7 to any part of.

any of thepas'sageways 5.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3, l andv5,.each. Y of the carriages 9is provided with front and l.

platform. Each pedal carries a contact 36a rear supporting trucks 10which are provided with supporting wheels running upon opposite"A nangesof the monorail track, one set ofvsupporting wheels of the trucks beingdriven by ar truck is provided with a suitable conductorv trolley 12which runsupon a conductor railf13. The main frame Vof the carriage issuspended from the ktrucks 10Vby means of king bolts lll 'tric motor 29;

which areconnected to the top bars 15 of the frame. The .top bars 15have secured between them, adjac'entthe Vopposite ends thereof, verticalguide posts V16 which are connected'at their lowerj ends by bottom bars17, the posts 16 being of a length to extend from the top bars 15 to apoint close Vto thefloor of the Warehouse. Rigidly secured to the bottombars 17 are laterally extending Aarms 18 which carry upon their outerends guide rollers 19' which are adapted to bear 'against guide members20 extending along the bottoms' of the tiers of compartments 'onopposite sides of thepassageway, the guide 'rollers 19 cooperating withthe guide'members adjacent the lower ends thereof ywhich engage with theinnerfaces of the guide posts 16.

Y For convenient handling of articles suchas boxes or bales of cotton, aplatform may be provided at opposite ends with roller beds 'consistingVof short independentlyrotatable rollers v26 upon which 'a plurality ofarticles may be supported side by side and on which the articles may beVmoved one' independently of another. Between the twoi roller beds at thecenter of thelplatform there is a-space 27 where the operator may stand,the operators space being provided at the center of the platform so thatthe operators position is convenient for loading or form. Platform 21`is raisedv or lowered inthe frame of the carriage by Ameans of a windingdrum 28 supported by the top bars 1.5 adjacent one ofthe posts-16 anddriven by a suitable elec- The` 'cable 30 extends from the Windingdrum28 Aovera guidefsheave 31 at the top ofthe adjacent guide post 16, overguide sheavesV 32 at' the lower end of vthe saineY postV i and Aatthelower end,V ofthe opposite post and is anchored to the end ofthe loadbar opposite thatupon which the winding drum 28 is mountpedal form issufcient to'enable the platform to be the propelling motors 11 and forhoist motor Y 29 are supportedl from one end of the load bal" .15A by asuitable bracket .35 and these controllers are operated by means of fourpedals 36 projecting into the operators space 2'7 on the which isadapted to `*engage a xed contact 36D and is normally held up out ofengagement with the contact'36b by means of a spring 36e. The

operated vswitches on the areconnected to the controllers 34 byconductor wires 37 which extend from the switches and over an` automatictake-up reel 37a, carried by the bracket 35 which takesV up and pays outthe *wiresY as the platform is raised and lowered.

Two of the switches yon the platform"`contro1 the forwardandreverserotation of the propeliing motorsand the other two switches control therotation of Vthe hoist motor in opposite diplatform Y rections to raiseand'lower the platform.' Since the switches on the platform are normallyopen either motor will be automatically stopped when the operator ytakeshis foot from the control pedal. The pedals are preferably relativelyshort so that the operator will not step on a pedal accidentally, and incase of an accident causing the operator to lose his balance or bethrown from the platform, the ywithdrawal of the operators foot from thepedal would, automatically stopthe motor. l f y i For thefaclitating ofthe handling of articlessuch as bales or boxes, the floors of thecompartment may be provided with roller beds composed of shortindependently rotatable `supporting yrollers 38V parallel with therollers 26 on ythe carriage platforms so that the bales .or boxes canvbe readily pushed off the elevator platform into the 'storagecompartments. or from the storage compartments onto the elevatorplatform. The receiving and delivering Yplatform 3 may alsoV beprovided. with horizontal supporting rollers 39 to facilitate thetransfer of articles to and from the platform. The carriers may beemployed to transfer rarticles to or from the platform 34 or to orrfrombox cars 40 on the railway track 2, aguide chan:-

nel 41 being provided alongside the track 2 to., steady the carriageframe during loading and ...unloading operations.

The warehouse may be provided with a plurality of stories, each of whichis provided with compartmentsV arranged as above described.

For transferring carriers from one. story'to'the next higher. story, ,aninclined trackway 42 is one end of the next lower story and entering`provided which extends Vpreferably longitudi the building atY theopposite end of the building' adjacent vthe top of this story, andextending across, the ends of the tiers of compartments therein.- Asshown herein, track v`l2 vextends from the'lirstto the second story landis coni nected by a switch 43 to the track 6, andV within the secondstory is connected to the branch tracks '7a extending overthe-passageways by `meansofswitches 3a. v

. '[n operation, the carrier may be loaded either 150 from the platform3 or from one of the box cars 41 and then may be propelled along thetracks 6 and 7 to a position opposite the particular compartment orcompartments to which the goods are to be delivered. While the carrieris traveling along a track 7 or after the carrier has been stopped infront of the compartment to which the goods are to be delivered,platform 21 is elevated or lowered to a position at the level of thefloor of the compartment, and the goods are transferred from theplatform to the compartment. When it is desired to remove goods from anycompartment, the operator causes the carriage to be propelled to theposition in front of the compartment and positions the loading platformat the level of the floor of the compartment, transfers the goods fromthe compartment to the load carrying platform and runs the carrier backto the receiving platform 3 or to the box car 40 to which the goods areto be transferred.

The longitudinal rows of compartments are preferably designated in asuitable manner suchl as A, B, C, etc., and the successive tiers in eachrow and superposed compartments in each tier are preferably designatednumerically so that if an operator receives an order for delivery ofgoods to or removal from any compartment he can very quickly drive thecarrier to the des( ignated compartment. For instance, if the order isfor compartment A-203, it would mean the 3rd compartment of the 20thtier in row A and the operator would drive the carrier along the track 6to the switch leading to the track '7 extending alongside row A, operatethe switch, and while traveling along the track 7 toward the 20th tieroperate the switch controlling the hoist motor to elevate the platformto the level of the 3rd compartments of the tiers so that upon arrivalat a point alongside the 20th tier 'the platform is in proper positionfor. transfer'of goods between the designated compartment and thecarrier platform.

Having thus described my invention,` I claim:

1. In a material handling system, an overhead track, carriers adapted totravel along said overhead track, a longitudinally extending centrallydisposed load bar supported by said carriers, vertically disposedmembers spaced apart longitudinally of and connected at their upper endswith said load bar, means securing the lower ends of said membersvtogether in spaced relation, a vertically'movableV platform associatedwith said members, a cable extending downwardly from the load barbeneath said platform and upwardly around a drum supported by said loadbar, and means for operating said drum controllable from said platformto raise and lower the latter.

2. In a material handling system, an overhead track, carriers adapted totravel along said overhead track, a longitudinally extending centrallydisposed load bar supported by said carriers, Vertically disposedmembers spaced apart longitudi- 1 vnally and connected at their upperends with EARL T. BENNINGTQN. 1

